For one, most other retailers(like the American chain Gap and the Swedish retailer Hennes & Maurit) completely outsource their production to factories around the world , many of them in low cost of Zara's production is carried out in Europe , much of it within a small radius of its headquarters in Spain. In fact, almost half of its production is in owned or closely-controlled facilities. While this gives Zara a tremendous amount of flexibility and control, it does have to contend with higher people costs , averaging 17-20 times the costs in Asia